No car - how to get from Universal to Busch Gardens?

[mommyof2boys1girl]

We'd like to add the Busch Gardens option to our Discovery Cove tickets for our November trip, but we won't have a car, so may have to rely on the "complimentary transport shuttle" or whatever they call it, from Universal. I've read a few reports that say the shuttle doesn't get you in until a few hours after opening. With a start this late, is it worth the extra time and effort for us to include Busch in our touring plan? My older boys are real coaster enthusiasts, and all three kids' favorite park in WDW is AK, so we thought Busch would be a good addition for not much extra cost (with the DC ticket)
Any opinions?

 

[TRAVELQUEEN]

We'd like to add the Busch Gardens option to our Discovery Cove tickets for our November trip, but we won't have a car, so may have to rely on the "complimentary transport shuttle" or whatever they call it, from Universal. I've read a few reports that say the shuttle doesn't get you in until a few hours after opening. With a start this late, is it worth the extra time and effort for us to include Busch in our touring plan? My older boys are real coaster enthusiasts, and all three kids' favorite park in WDW is AK, so we thought Busch would be a good addition for not much extra cost (with the DC ticket)
Any opinions?

We are doing the DC add on for BG (we are not early risers so we are going to be driving down and renting a hotel overnight so that we can get in a 2nd day) and have done BG many times--BG should simply not be missed by "real coaster enthusiasts" and BG is a very large park with rides, shows, animal viewing, etc--you have several options in my mind-1) November may not be that busy depending on when you are going and you might be able to get much more accomplished than you think even with the limited 1 day time frame (ck your dates and verify park hours to see what the reality is)--2) If it looks like it is really busy you can always buy a Express Pass which will gets you on and off rides really fast and make doing BG in one day possible--3) Get an overnight hotel in BG area that has shuttle service--take the shuttle service back to the hotel and ck in--spend the night--take the shuttle back to BG and hit it for a 2nd full day and go back to Universal on day 2 via transport shuttle (I have personally known a couple who did this 2 years ago--just make sure to note on your initial transportation reservation and advise the driver (and give him a few buck extra tip)--4) If all else fails rent a car for the ultimate freedom

Hope this gives you some different options to consider

 

[johde]

I'm planning on doing this for the first time in January except instead of going with the Discovery Cove addon I'm getting a 1 day Thrills and Chills Package that includes Sea World/ Busch Gardens tickets and Quick Queue tickets. From what I've read the 11:30 time is more of a CYA time in case of traffic. The last pickup is I think 9:40 (There are 7 stops and each bus will make no more than 3) so in normal traffic you should make it by 10:30 and the park opens at 10:00 all month in November.

 

[DOOM1001]

I always have my car on my Orlando trips since I live in Miami and lately when I want to do a day at Busch Gardens I've been taking their free shuttle over and leaving my car in Orlando,I always tip the driver $10 but aside from that it's free and saves me money on gas and wear on the car.There's several pick up locations like Universal and the Premium Outlets,I believe the Vineland outlet location but I usually end up getting on at the Maingate Lakeside resort which is the last pick up location and first drop off location on the way back.It picks up from Maingate at 9:40am so from Universal and the outlets pickup would probably be around 8:45-9am or so,it ends up getting to Busch Gardens at around 11am which for me is fine since I've been to the park a couple hundred times,if this is your first trip and you want to get the most out of the park then renting a car is the better option,if you're going on a slow time of the year then getting there at 11am might be fine,either way if you're kids are coaster enthusiasts you pretty much have to go as it is the best coaster park in Florida.Also keep an eye out for park hours as there are slower days the park opens at 10am which is only an hour before the shuttle gets there so on those days renting a car is probably not a good idea.